Happenings

Sorry we have not blogged in a few weeks---we have been really busy between hosting our church Thanksgiving Dinner to planning for the big Christmas Outreach and everything in between. We are so blessed daily by all that God is doing here. We continue to meet new people every day and just listening to other's stories and pouring in to them when the opportunity arises has blessed us more than anything! We took a bike ride 2 weeks ago and found a little "barrio" tucked away across a wooden walking bridge. The poverty took our breath away. There were five little makeshift houses and all the people that lived there were a family. The Grandmother has 4 children and each of them has a house. Among the 4 of them there are 13 children. They have no power and dirt floors. They cook over a stove outside, yet many of them are suffering from health problems because of breathing in the smoke all day long. We talked to them for a long time and they really touched our hearts. The boys had a great time playing with all of their dogs and chickens. We went back and visited last week and Thomas and Jacob took the kids some toys to play with. We have prayed and as a family are going to "sponsor" this neighborhood for Christmas. Our boys are really excited about going and buying Christmas gifts for the family. We will also share the Christmas Story with them--similar to what we are doing with our Christmas Outreaches in the other 2 barrios. We are looking forward to developing a relationship with this extended family with the hopes of sharing the love of Jesus with them. Daniel is really praying about how to reconstruct the outdoor stoves (possibly adobe style) in order to help them with their health problems. Join with us in praying about how we can be a part of helping this family.

Below are a few pictures from the Thanksgiving dinner as well as random pictures of daily life.

Our new iguana friend in our back yard...

Park Clean Up

What an AWESOME day we had yesterday! Daniel led a team of men from the church in a "clean up the park" day in the barrio where we do kid's club on Saturdays. The little playground was falling apart, the soccer field was grown over and there was trash everywhere. The men did a wonderful job and the kids were soooo excited! Many of them were right there watching and helping as the men worked. We were entertaining the rest of the kids in an empty field beside the park with water games and races. It was such a blessing to the kids and to the community and as soon as the men were done there were kids playing soccer again and others climbing all over the play equipment! What a joy it was to be a part of this special day! Below are a few pictures of the day.

Soccer field before

Soccer field after

rope ladder before

rope ladder after

clean park at last!!!

CORE Groups and Christmas Outreach preparations

Wow, we have been extremely busy but having so much fun! We just kicked off CORE groups with the church--one in English and one in Spanish. They are basically home fellowship groups and we are studying through the Book of James. Daniel is leading one of the groups and we are having a lot of fun! It is a great way for us to go deeper in the Word with those in the church as well as develop relationships to a deeper level. We are excited about what the Lord is going to do through these groups!

We are also gearing up for our big Christmas Outreach this year. We are having 2 separate outreaches this year in 2 of the poorest "barrios" (neighborhoods) in Jacó. We are sharing the Christmas story, serving refreshments, having clowns lead games, and giving each child a gift. We are getting people in our church here as well as people in The States to "sponsor" a child for only $10 which will pay for the gift. The gift will include clothing, a toy, a Gospel coloring book, crayons and candy. We are SOOOO excited about being a part of blessing these precious families this Christmas! It will definitely bless us more than it blesses any of them for sure!

Below are a few pictures of our Kid's Club kids that will be participating in the Christmas Outreach! Please join us in praying for these families now--that their lives will be forever changed by hearing the truth of Jesus' love!

"Banana Picking" and Special Visitors

Here are a few pictures of Daniel and Thomas cutting bananas down at Warren's house. (Warren attends our church) Thomas thought this was sooo much fun!! There are also a few pictures of us with Carolyn and Ashley who came to visit us over their Fall Break from Palm Beach Atlantic Univ. Carolyn was in our youth group at Calvary Chapel in Lexington and Ashley is her roommate in college. We had so much fun with them and they were a true blessing and help to us while they were here!

Update on Maria and Lester

As many of you remember, we met Maria and Lester right after moving here and have been ministering to them since. They have come to church with us for about 2 months and we have developed and incredible relationship with them during this time. We shared the Gospel with them one night at our house about 3 weeks ago or so and they were very interested in learning more. Since that time, Daniel bought a Bible and devotional book for each of them and I have never seen anyone so excited to receive a gift. It was such a beautiful moment for both Daniel and I. They began reading their Bibles and one day Maria came over and said they were ready to accept Jesus as Lord of their lives!!!!! We had them over last Saturday night for dinner, walked them through the Gospel and THEY BOTH PRAYED AND INVITED JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!! We were and are sooo excited! With tears in their eyes and pure joy beaming from their faces, they prayed with us and it was such a life changing moment for all of us! What is more, Sunday we had a baptism celebration and dinner at our house for the church and they along with 4 others were baptized in our pool!!! What a celebration it was!! Please see the attached pictures of the baptism! It was such a night of rejoicing to see what the Lord is doing in the lives of people here who are surrendering to Him! We feel so blessed to have already seen the fruit of the ministry we are doing here--this is a true gift from the Lord!

Thanks to all of you who are continuously praying for us and for Jacó. Please pray for Maria and Lester as they begin this new journey with the Lord!!!!

Youth Conference

Thanks so much to all of you for praying for Daniel while he was speaking at the Youth Conference in the mountains! He definitely felt the prayers and the conference was incredible!!! All of his talks were very well received and he had an awesome time getting to know kids from all over Central America. Here are a few pictures from his time there.

Homemade Tortillas

Here are a few pictures of Maria teaching us how to make homemade tortillas. Tortillas are a staple both here and in Nicaragua. Thomas helped her cook and they had a great time cooking and playing in the dough. We love Maria!!!

The finished product--Thomas's favorite--black beans and cheese on a tortilla dipped in sour cream...he got a little carried away with the sour cream!!!